In my first article, I would like to give a retrospective of my time at Kennesaw State University as the only staff member in the university who was a software developer and specialized in XR.
Basics
Let’s start with the basics of the position. First, it was housed under the College of Computing and Software Engineering and inside of that the Department of Software Engineering and Game Development.
KSU -> CCSE -> SWEGD -> VR Software Developer
Hierarchy of VR Software Developer
Second, the position was managed by the department chair, or head, for the Software Engineering and Game Development department. This was done because professors only have a 9 month term of work with the university, while the department chair and other staff members are expected to work year round. However, the staff member in this position was technically overseen and given marching orders by one of the professors in SWEGD.
Third, the responsibilities of the position were roughly equivalent to the owner of a start-up company. That is:
- Develop software to meet client needs.
- Manage and hire a team of developers to deliver product.
- Acquire clients through marketing and relationship building.
- Perform analysis of client’s business needs.
- Translate business goals into concrete software architecture and deliverables for clients.
- Perform market analysis to ensure latest standards and technology are used and/or developed.
- Create work timeline and follow through with clients.
- Manage and secure resources, including funding, and in coordination with the department and college.
- Ensure compliance with legal standards (of which there were a lot that needed to be as a public university).
One thing that may be noticeably lacking, is that there was not much need for the person in this position to set a vision for their team and/or lab. This is partly because the lab and team had a narrow focus on XR technology and because projects were acquired from clients rather than created by the lab itself.
History
The position was originally created for a professor to use his research funding to hire one of his student assistants into a full time role and start the process of officially creating a university recognized research lab. That is how the Virtual Realities lab was born and along with it the position of VR Software Developer (that is the official title, however the position worked with technology beyond VR, hence the more encompassing term XR will be used to refer to the position in the future).
The job came first, and I believe, was opened in 2017. The first person to have the job helped found the lab and a secondary one focused on simulations and games. The main research lab is called the Realities Lab and focuses on advancing extended reality (XR) for education, healthcare, and human development.
In late 2020, I was contacted by the current department chair of SWEGD to discuss having me apply for this XR software developer position. It seemed like a great opportunity so I decided to apply, went through the interview process, and luckily was selected to be the second person in this position. I started in March 2021 (yes, the university system moves at a glacial pace) and I spent the next 4 years with Kennesaw State.
In the next post, I will go over my personal experience in the first year of my time there, covering projects, personnel changes, and more. Please look forward to it!